I want to share a very well written article about living kidney donation.  It is a blog written by George Taniwaki who is a software program manager in Bellevue, Washington and also is  a kidney donor.  Last December he wrote a post titled “Too many patients with ESRD don’t get kidneys (part 1) – finding a live donor.”  Here is an excerpt:

“What prevents these patients from finding a live donor? Here are some possible reasons: 1) they don’t want a kidney from a live donor (perhaps for ethical or religious reasons),

2) they are not aware that live donors are an option and so don’t look for donors,

3) they would like a kidney from a live donor, but have a very small social network and don’t know how to ask strangers for a kidney (or are not aware that they can ask a stranger for a kidney),

4) they are afraid, embarrassed, or otherwise unable to ask someone (either an acquaintance or a stranger) for a kidney, or

5) they have asked but so far everyone has turned them down or is not a match.”

I like that Mr. Taniwaki is thinking about data & research regarding ESRD patients and the living donation process.  We need more research about this.

Thanks to @LKDNorg for the tweet that led me to this article.